It acts like a gearbox, allowing you to sacrifice rotational speed for higher torque output. What makes this gearbox type special is their low backlash, multiple points of contact, and high efficiency.
replyMight be worth adding that info to the README
reply:D Kids can do amazing things.
replyAdult engineers are already pretty bad at knowing with other people know and what's worth saying. This is the one area where students are markedly worse; "if I know it, everyone else must." Or just figuring out the important bit to explain.
Its been added!
replyThey're pretty cool. They can be good in situations where you don't want any backlash and lots of torque. I believe they're very popular as actuators in robotics.
replyThe cycloid you may not know you already have could often be found mounted under the chassis of vans and pickup trucks to compactly turn the takeup reel for the cable that lowers and raises the spare tire stowed underneath the vehicle.
replyThe reel holds fast its position naturally when the cable is at any length, and allows a heavy truck tire to be lifted manually using the light-duty hand crank.
Notice in the Github animation that the visible rotor has nine lobes and the stator has 10 stations, this can be confirmed if you take a screenshot.